Groups and organisations from different parts of the world will meet on 24 and 25 March 2012 in the city of Lausanne to discuss, propose and socialize the internal conflict in Colombia and its possible resolutions.
It will be held under the title of “International congress for peace and political resolution to the Colombian conflict” and it will be an open invitation to the Colombian and wider international community to act and debate on specific topics.
In this respect, there are five fundamental objectives: to bring the the Colombian conflict to international attention, generate international solidarity in terms of the conflict and its consequences, create a framework for political resolution to the conflict, establish the basis of unity of Colombians overseas, and convert everybody in collective subjects in the political resolution to the Colombian conflict.
Stigmatized by a reality latent in the country, Colombians are prey to the war which is fought with growing violence and which makes impossible the guarantees referred to in Article 22 of the National Constitution of Colombia: “Peace is a right and a compulsory line of duty”.
In fact, in the annual table of countries according to their level of violence, Colombia occupies the 130th position and although investigations such as that of the first quarter of the current year indicate that the number of assassinations has fallen by 8%, the statistics continue to be alarming.
The members of the organising committee, together with organisations in favour of freedom, draw attention to the increased assassinations for political reasons, and the forced disappearances or exiles, leaving hundreds of people in a political, social and economic void.
The Committee, for their part, consider that it is “necessary to continue exploring ways towards bringing a political end to the conflict, in which the rights of the Colombian people to have a decent life in peace and democracy are recognised”. The meeting hopes most of all to achieve international recognition of the situation, looking for different ways in which the rights of the people are fundamentally recognised.
A recognition that is necessary as Colombia occupies first place in the world for internal displacement of population affecting approximately five million people. According to figures published by the UNHCR (United Nations Refugee Agency), they show the necessity for links between external bodies and those involved in the process taking place in the country.
For more information: Congress contact: Lausanne, Switzerland:encuentro.colombia2012@gmail.com. London: politicalsolution.colombia@yahoo.com